CORONA: Too many have forest road keys, county says

Over the past three decades they’ve handed out hundreds of keys to a gate blocking a dangerous dirt road leading to the national forest south of Corona.

It was closed off years ago to prevent car accidents on the single-lane road with steep cliffs, blind curves and no guardrails. But hunters, hikers, bikers and others with heavy gear wanted a way to drive in without hauling their items deep into the forest on foot or bikes.

After issuing keys to virtually anyone who asked, including irresponsible teenagers and drivers, county officials now realize they must stop the flow of uncontrolled access.

“We think there’s about 1,200 keys out there,” said Patricia Romo, Riverside County’s deputy transportation director. “What I’m trying to do is rein it back in. I want to start over.”

So they’re changing the locks, a decision that has some key holders seeing red.

The Skyline Drive dirt road into the Cleveland National Forest has been locked since the 1980s, after several fatal car accidents posed liability issues. Recently, neighbors in a new residential development nearby have complained that key holders are leaving the gate open, locking other drivers inside, parking on residential streets, littering, vandalizing signs and spraying graffiti.

“You have your serious hikers and hunters and then you’ve got your kids that just want to go back there and have a party,” Romo said. “No one locks the gate and it’s left open all the time. That’s a liability for the county ... I don’t want someone driving up there in the dark or in a rainstorm.”

TOO MANY KEYS

Video taken by Corona city officials showed up to 50 cars parked at the gate one weekend, people leaving it open, and others locking cars inside the forest, Corona Public Works Assistant Director Nelson Nelson said.

“The county has to open it up for them. It happens quite often,” Nelson said. “They’re taking motorized vehicles down (a maintenance road)… driving on those vacant lots spinning cookies.”

Romo said she’s in a predicament and can’t recall the keys by mailing notices to owners because some records date back 30 years, are outdated or are missing. Her department had been issuing permits to anyone who was over 16, paid a $100 deposit, agreed not to sue the county or copy the key, and locked the gate.

“The keys started going out to anyone who asked for them,” Romo said. “Therein lies the problem.”

Also, keys have been copied, teenagers under 16 are using the park and people are not being responsible, she said.

Her decision to change the lock this month stoked the ire of some key owners, who say responsible people are being punished because of others’ misdeeds. Some also say the county road shouldn’t be locked.

“That’s public land. Anyone should be able to have one (a key),” Norco resident Dale Henry said while standing near the gate. He has a key to go four-wheeling in the forest.

“It’s my land, Henry said. “They should give me access to my land.”

Hikers Carmen Marcinkiewicz, 53, and daughter Lori Gunderson, 32, of Corona, stood near the gate a recent day on different sides of the issue. Marcinkiewicz says conditions are dangerous and the road should be limited to drivers; Gunderson says only responsible people needing access should be allowed.

Some hunters and hikers said the road didn’t appear to be any more dangerous than other park roads and should be open to the public. But Brian Harris, spokesman for the Cleveland National Forest, said the road is dangerous and unlike other forest roads that are often paved with two lanes and don’t have steep drop-offs.

LONG HISTORY

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in 1986 after the fatal accidents to shut down the steep, narrow dirt road that was built in the 1920s. Officials said that average drivers couldn’t safely navigate the blind curves with no guardrails and impassable areas.

Roughly $2 million would be needed to make the road safer, and the forest service doesn’t want to take it over, Romo said.

Some have suggested leaving the gate open for all users but erecting a sign notifying them of the road’s risk to limit the county’s liability, but Romo said that wouldn’t be enough.

Options being considered by county, city and forest officials are adding parking, requiring permits for parking on the weekends, moving the gate farther up the dirt road to provide additional parking, educating key owners, and requiring them to justify their need to use the road before issuing them a key.

For now, key holders must submit a written explanation on why they need access. Romo has received about 10 applications so far and is creating criteria.

“Chances are, I’ll be looking at them on a case by case basis,” Romo said.